Health City and Ascension part ways

American nonprofit healthcare company Ascension has ended its partnership with Health City Cayman Islands.

The company, a St. Louis, Missouri-based, healthcare provider, partnered with Dr. Devi Shetty’s Narayana Health to bring the medical tourism facility to Grand Cayman in 2014.

Now Ascension says it is switching its focus to other projects and Health City will “transition to full ownership” by Dr. Shetty’s company.

John Doyle, executive vice president of Ascension, said the hospital was a world-class facility that had achieved accreditation from the Joint Commission International and was meeting its remit to bring world-class care to the Caribbean.

“Our goal was to address unmet needs of residents of the greater Caribbean region and beyond, particularly those who are poor and vulnerable, while exploring ways to learn about different approaches to providing healthcare that might benefit our facilities in the United States and worldwide,” he said.

“With the success of Health City, Ascension can continue to focus our energies and resources on our other international needs.”

Dr. Anthony Tersigni, president and chief executive officer of Ascension, said the partnership had helped provide free surgeries to more than 200 children from Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua who could not afford treatment.

Dr. Shetty added, “We greatly appreciate Ascension’s support over the past five years, as together we brought world-class healthcare to the Caribbean region. Ascension has been a valued partner in this project, and our organizations have learned much from each other.

The two companies said, in a joint press release, that they would maintain close links.

Dr. Shetty said in the release that the change would not affect the future success of the hospital.

“The commendable performance of this facility underpins the success our differentiated business model even in unexplored international territories like Caribbean Islands,” he said. “We remain confident about the prospects of this facility in terms of attracting international patients from the neighboring islands in need of care.”

When the partnership was first announced in 2012, officials from both companies said Ascension would own part of the new hospital and handle group purchasing, facilities management and biomedical engineering services, while Dr. Shetty’s group would manage the running of the hospital.